1. Translation:149 O you who believe, if you obey
those who disbelieve, they will make you turn back upon your
heels, so you will turn back losers.a

150 Nay, Allah
is your Patron, and He is the Best of the helpers.

151 We will
cast terror into the hearts of those who
disbelievea
because they set up with Allah that for which He has sent
down no authority, and their abode is the Fire. And evil is
the abode of the wrongdoers.

152 And Allah
certainly made good His promise to youa
when you slew them by His permission, until you became
weak-hearted and disputed about the affair and disobeyed
after He had shown you that which you loved.b
Of you were some who desired this world, and of you were
some who desired the Hereafter.c
Then He turned you away from them that He might try you; and
He has indeed pardoned you.d
And Allah is Gracious to the believers.

153 When you
went away far, and paid no heed to anyone, and the Messenger
was calling you in your rear.a
So He gave you (another) grief for (your) first grief that
you might not grieve at what escaped you, nor (at) what
befell you. And Allah is Aware of what you do.

154 Then after
grief He sent down security on you, slumber overcoming a
party of you,a
while (there was) another party whom their own souls had
rendered anxious  they entertained about Allah
thoughts of ignorance quite unjustly.b
They said: Have we any hand in the affair?c
Say: The affair is wholly (in the hands) of Allah. They hide
within their souls that which they would not reveal to thee.
They say: Had we any hand in the affair, we would not have
been slain here.d
Say: Had you remained in your houses, those for whom
slaughter was ordained would have gone forth to the places
where they would be slain.e
And (this happened) that Allah might test what was in your
breasts and that He might purge what was in your hearts. And
Allah is Knower of what is in the breasts.f

155 Those of
you who turned back on the day when the two armies met, only
the devil sought to cause them to make a slip on account of
some deeds they had done, and certainly Allah has pardoned
them. Surely Allah is Forgiving,
Forbearing.mdol.a

2. Commentary:t
149a.
The war was carried on only with the object of making the
Muslims renounce their religion, and hence they could not
think of accepting the disbelievers as their rulers.
[Back
to verse 149]

151a.
Notwithstanding the great disproportion in numbers, the
Muslims being less than one-fourth of their opponents, being
at the same time not so well equipped as their foes, and in
spite of the disorder into which the Muslim forces had
fallen, the enemy had to flee, leaving the Muslims in the
field, not even making a show of attacking Madinah, which
was quite defenceless. This clearly shows that they were
terror-stricken even after they had inflicted some loss upon
the Muslims, considering it safer to go back to Makkah while
the Muslims were yet occupied with their own troubles and
were unable to pursue them. [Back
to verse 151]

152a.
The promise is contained in v. 124: When thou didst
say to the believers: Does it not suffice you that your Lord
should help you with three thousand angels?
[Back
to verse 152]

152b.
It clearly shows that the Muslims had obtained a victory at
Uhud, later incidents depriving them of the fruits of that
victory. Though apparently all the fighters are spoken of
here as becoming weak-hearted, the reference is only to that
group of archers who disobeyed the Prophets orders, as
the words that follow show: Of you were some who desired
this world. Nor did any of the Muslims show any
weak-heartedness in fighting against the enemy. The
weak-heartedness of a part of the archers who were placed in
an important position to cut off the enemys retreat
consisted in their disobeying the clear orders of the
Prophet: If you see us overcoming the enemy leave not
your position, and if you see the enemy overcoming us, leave
not your position, the Prophet had told the archers.
But they fell a prey to the love of the world and left their
position to get a share in the booty when they saw the enemy
fleeing before the Muslim onrush. [Back
to verse 152]

152c.
These were the two parties of the body of archers. When the
enemy was apparently routed, some of these archers were led
by the love of plunder to leave their position, while their
chief, Abd Allah ibn Jubair, with only some ten men,
stuck to their post. Muslims were required to fight in
Allahs way, and if any Muslim fought for plunder, he
fought for the love of this world and not in Allahs
way. [Back
to verse 152]

152d.
The enemy, who was being
pursued, turned against the pursuers on seeing the important
position of the archers vacated, and the result was that the
Muslims who were now in disorder on account of the pursuit
found themselves helpless against the enemy who turned back
on them, and some of them who were cut off from the main
body took to flight. We are, however, here told that God
pardoned them as their flight was the result of
circumstances which were beyond their control. Uthman
is said to have been one of them. [Back
to verse 152]

153a.
It refers to the Prophets call, at whom the Muslims
now saw that the attack of the enemy was directed. So they
did not grieve for losing an opportunity of pursuing the
enemy, but for the dangerous position in which they saw the
Prophet. This is, in fact, plainly stated in what follows:
that you might not grieve at what escaped you,
i.e. the booty which they would have had by pursuing the
fleeing enemy, nor at what befell you, i.e., the
loss which they themselves suffered. Athaba sometimes
conveys the idea of giving one thing instead of another,
the giving of a substitute (LL). They forgot their own
grief when they saw that it was the Prophet at whom the
attack was directed now. [Back
to verse 153]

154a.Nuas means slight sleep; it is said that
nuas here implies calm and quiet (R). It
must have happened when the enemy departed. The slumber was
a sign of security, for no army could have gone to rest
while yet in the field of battle if it had the least anxiety
as to its security. [Back
to verse 154]

154b.
The persons spoken of here are the disaffected who took no
part in fighting. They now gave vent to their hidden rancour
against the Muslims. The evil thoughts which the hypocrites
entertained about Allah were that Allah had not helped the
Muslims. [Back
to verse 154]

154c.
The hypocrites sided with the minority whose counsel was
that the Muslims should not fight the enemy in the open
field and should remain besieged in Madinah. The majority
was, however, in favour of going out and meeting the enemy
where it had encamped. The Prophet decided that the majority
vote must be accepted. Hence the hypocrites murmuring
as to why their counsel was not accepted. [Back
to verse 154]

154d.
Their contention was that the disaster would not have
befallen the Muslims if their advice as to remaining within
the town had been accepted. They took no part in fighting
but they spoke of the loss of the Muslims as their own loss.
[Back
to verse 154]

154e.
Remaining in the houses here signifies meeting the enemy
while remaining in Madinah. By those for whom slaughter
was ordained are meant the martyrs of Uhud. The
murmurings of the hypocrites are met with the reply that
even if the Muslims had defended themselves by remaining in
Madinah, those who laid down their lives in the field of
Uhud would have laid them down in Madinah as well. Death was
moreover a thing ordained. [Back
to verse 154]

154f.
This explains Allahs testing what is in the hearts. He
knows it, and His testing it means making it manifest to
others. The attitude of the hypocrites was made manifest by
the fighting in Uhud. It would have remained hidden if the
battle had been fought in Madinah. [Back
to verse 154]

155a.
The persons spoken of here are those who were unable to join
the main Muslim army and .ed to Madinah, or in some other
direction. However pressed they may have been, it was not
right on their part to leave the field of battle. Here it is
spoken of as a slip on their part; it did not amount to
intentional disobedience and God granted them a free pardon.
[Back
to verse 155]